Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an object information acquiring apparatus and an object information acquiring method.
Description of the Related Art
A photoacoustic imaging (PAI) method has been proposed as a technique for imaging the inside of an object using acoustic waves (typically, ultrasonic waves). The photoacoustic imaging method is a method for visualizing information related to the optical property values inside an object by using acoustic waves generated by irradiating the object with pulsed laser light.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,356 discloses a method for receiving acoustic waves from an object (a breast) by using a plurality of transducers arranged on a hemispherical surface of a detector and generating (reconstructing) three-dimensional image data. Upon measurement using this apparatus, one inserts her breast into the hemispherical detector in which the transducers are arranged, and lies on her stomach. A gap between the inserted breast and the transducers is filled with water for acoustic matching. At the time of measurement, the detector provided with the transducers rotates step by step. Consequently, the transducers receive acoustic waves at each step position. The detector scans the breast in this manner, so that it is possible to perform measurement as if transducers were present in many directions, even when a small number of transducers are used. Note that the breast is inserted to be located in the vicinity of the center of the hemisphere of the detector, and pulsed light is emitted from the top portion of the hemisphere of the detector.    Patent Literature 1: U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,356